


wherever there is you, i will be there too

by purplevanity



Series: know your own happiness [2]
Category: Emma Approved, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Gen, Timeline What Timeline, austen-heroes-are-best-bros-verse, darcy sucks at golf it is known
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-16 01:48:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1327279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purplevanity/pseuds/purplevanity
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Alex and Emma arrive together, as they are wont to do everything – ever since he’d had the pleasure of being introduced to her William can’t think of the two of them as anything other than a seamless, functional unit: Emma is cheery where Alex is dry, creative where Alex is technical, and laughing when Alex struggles to render anything more than a smirk.</p><p>Well, that’s not quite accurate. He smiles more when he’s with her."</p><p>The Knightleys, Woodhouses, and Darcys have their quarter-annual lunch at their favorite country club, and William ponders life, love, and relationships. Post-LBD, pre-EA</p>
            </blockquote>





	wherever there is you, i will be there too

Alex and Emma arrive together, as they are wont to do everything – ever since he’d had the pleasure of being introduced to her William can’t think of the two of them as anything other than a seamless, functional unit: Emma is cheery where Alex is dry, creative where Alex is technical, and laughing when Alex struggles to render anything more than a smirk.

Well, that’s not quite accurate. He smiles more when he’s with her.

On the lawn chair beside him Gigi squeals and waves, putting down her copy of Sense and Sensibility on the table between them and slipping on her sandals. Gigi runs across the sloping golf course to Alex and tiptoes, kissing him on the cheek.

Alex smiles at that, too. William knows it’s because Gigi reminds him of Emma, somehow, all girlish fire and cheerful charm. She embraces Emma in one of those bone-crushing, sisterly hugs that are rare from Gigi nowadays; his sister has been less inclined to show physical contact ever since George. (The thought still makes his blood boil a little, how dare he take one of the nicest, sweetest little girls in the world and make her believe she was undeserving of love.) But Gigi’s adored Emma within seconds of meeting her, perhaps she saw her as the loving, feminine influence William couldn’t provide. It stings a little, but he’s more grateful than hurt.

Alex has a caddy bring their things inside, walks over to him and grins a little. “Couldn’t be bothered to greet us yourself, Darcy?”

“Knightley.” William smiles a little. “Walking that far in the midday heat. You know it’s bad for health.”

“But Gigi was willing to do it.” Emma materializes behind Alex, half her face hidden behind giant sunglasses, her mouth downturned, arm linked with Gigi’s, wearing a bright pink tank top and designer sneakers.

At that, he gets up from the lawn chair. “Emma Woodhouse. Always a pleasure.”

Emma sighs dramatically. “When will we be good friends enough that you can stop calling me Emma Woodhouse all the time?” She gives William a once-over, and grins. “You look good, though. I like the bowtie.”

Gigi laughs. “He’s been wearing them more lately.”

Emma smiles, brilliant and blinding. “It’s not hard to see why. I’m just disappointed Alex never let me set you up on a date, and now I can’t ever.”

Now William can’t help but smile at that. “John, Isabella, and the kids are at the tennis courts,” he says finally.

“Sure, Darceface. Can I call you Darceface?”

“C’mon, Emma,” says Gigi. “Izzy wanted to discuss baby room decor with you, you know I’m hopeless at it.”

“And, Georgiana Darcy, you still owe me a tennis rematch!” Emma exclaims. “Don’t think I would have let you win that easily.”

Emma laughs, waves goodbye, and allows Gigi to lead her indoors. William watches them go, sees Gigi talk, her arms gesticulating wildly, and Emma nodding along to every word. “Your Emma’s really something,” he says finally.

He thinks he sees Alex smile a little. “I know.”

* * *

 

“Where are Bing and Caroline?” John asks at lunch, light fish dishes and sandwiches. “I’ve missed seeing them around.”

“Around,” William says. “You know Bing’s moved to New York with his girlfriend, and I think Caroline’s in Italy right now.”

“Her Instagram shows her sunbathing with some hot Italian guys,” says Gigi, most unhelpfully.

“Didn’t Uncle Alex use to date her?” little Henry pipes up from his seat.

The reactions are instant. Izzy widens her eyes apologetically and tuts at her son. John raises his eyebrows, amused. Gigi stifles a smile. Emma snorts in a most unladylike manner. And William doesn’t miss Alex’s rueful, too-long look at her. In an effort to change the subject, he says, “A pity your father couldn’t make it, Isabella. I did want to talk to him about the joint Hartfield-Pemberley project Alex had pitched.”

“Oh, you know Dad,” Emma puts in, sounding almost relieved. She bends over to wipe soup from her nephew’s mouth. “He was affronted that I wanted to go. Said the heat was bad for me. I’m only here because Alex was like -- _we’ve lunched with the Darcys at the country club every three months for three years, Mr. Woodhouse, it would be rude not to gooooo_ \-- and you know how Dad’s a stickler for propriety more than anything.”

“Unlike someone else I know,” says Alex. Emma grins at him. Gigi giggles.

* * *

 

By mid-afternoon, the girls have gone over to the pool -- “ _Emma and I so dislike golf, dear brother, and you know Isabella shouldn’t be golfing_ ,” and of course John freaked out and insisted on playing lifeguard upon hearing that comment -- leaving William and Alex to the golf course’s sloping hills and blue skies. William is laughably bad at golf, but Alex excels in it; he claims it’s due to his skill at statistics, even though statistics and golf have only the most tangential connection only Alex and maybe Emma would find humorous.

“So you’re quitting your consultancy at Pemberley,” William says, taking aim and swinging. He squints at the field. The ball lands maybe two hundred and seventy meters to the left of the hole. Oh, well.

Alex takes a swig of water. “Essentially, yes,” he says, wiping his brow with his towel. His rugged features look sharper in the sun, shadows dancing across his face. “You know Emma.”

 _You know Emma_. There’s a lot of weight in those three words; William knows Alex and Emma’s relationship runs deep, blurring boundaries and breaking friendships. Emma Woodhouse had been a whirlwind at business school, shaking things up and taking the place by storm, and Alex and William, three years her senior, could do little but stand at watched, bemused. She hadn’t done anything with her degree for a year after her graduation, preferring to stay home and take care of her father after Isabella’s marriage. And then she’d asked Alex to go into business with her, and, to William’s surprise, he’d agreed immediately.

“I expected you to be a little more disagreeable about it, you know,” Alex says teasingly, noting his long silence.

William smiles a little. “She pitched the idea to me over Skype,” he tells him. “I was reluctant at first--”

“Of course you were, you were never the most emotional of people,” Alex cuts in, laughing. “William Darcy, supporting a matchmaking company! Caroline still finds it hilarious.”

“Lizzie thought it was a great idea,” William says matter-of-factly. “She’s never met Emma, of course, but she told me that if she was anything like I described, she’d be able to make it work.”

Alex eyes him, as if it’s all clear now -- that in the interim, William Darcy has figured out how a person can mean the world to you, and that he has learned to be willing to give up everything for that person. Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything. William doesn’t understand, though (although he suspects Lizzie would) the unquestionable devotion and loyalty present between Emma and Alex -- although there’s time enough for that, he tells himself. Time enough for both of them.

“She needs me, though,” Alex says, very softly. “I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but Emma is too focused on burning brightly by herself to shine light on the finer details. I was never one for attention.”

“You’re being uncharacteristically poetic, Knightley,” William says, raising an eyebrow -- but he knows Alex is right, and Emma would do well with her by him. Perhaps this was always how things between them were meant to fall in place. “You are correct, though. Pembereley won’t be quite the same without you, but you and Emma work well together.”

Alex hits a hole-in-one. Damn him.

* * *

  
Emma is absolutely stunning in the firelight, the shadows dancing across her face making her look svelte, softer, emphasizing her brilliant smile and sparkling eyes. She’s sitting with Gigi in front of the fire, roasting marshmallows on barbeque sticks. Both of them are laughing. William hears snitches of their conversation -- “and then, Ryan chose that moment to walk in the room and he was so distracted by the dress that he walked straight into the soda fountain” -- “I don’t know if she likes me or she’s just being her usual flirty self, but she’s such a dynamic person. I like her a lot.” Alex and John are tending the barbeque, Izzy is tending to the children, both of whom have fallen asleep.

“What’s this I’m hearing about Gigi’s love life? You know you’re not allowed to date until you’re fifty,” William butts in, sitting down beside the two of them. “Evening, ladies.”

Emma laughs. “Always the charmer,” she says sarcastically. “Hello, William. How was golf?”

“I bet it was awful,” Gigi says. “That’s why William never takes his girlfriend out on golf dates. It’s the one thing he can’t ever be good at. He’d embarrass himself.”

“Golf is not even a real sport, Georgiana,” William replies matter-of-factly. “Lizzie hates it, anyway. I’d rather she see me...dive, or something.”

“You just don’t want to admit Alex is so much better than you,” says Emma. There’s a hint of pride in her voice, William thinks. “But anyway, I completely agree. Golf is not a sport.”

“If that’s the general attitude then why do we keep coming here instead of going someplace else with no golf courses?” Gigi wails, throwing her hands up in the air.

Emma laughs again. William decides he likes Emma’s laugh, because it makes his sister laugh. They should really do this more often.

“William, you should really bring Lizzie to one of these things,” Gigi adds. “I think she’d enjoy the fresh air. You know how San Francisco city center is.”

“Yes, I should. She very much wants to meet Emma, as well.”

Emma, surprisingly, blushes at that, and her eyes widen a little. “Oh, man, she’d hate me,” she says flippantly, but William can hear the tremor in her voice. He thinks of Lizzie, dry, sour, jeans-and-sneakers Lizzie contrasted with perpetually optimistic, go-getter Emma. He thinks of Emma, since birth the darling of Highbury Partners, groomed for success from the beginning, and how Lizzie would raise her eyebrows at Emma’s perfectly permed hair and two-thousand-dollar-heels. But then he thinks of Emma kissing her nephew’s hair and Emma talking about love with Gigi, and thinks differently. Emma is unconventional, but she is also driven, ambitious, and absolutely spectacular. For a brief, insane moment, he imagines her as a wedding planner smiling brightly at him and Lizzie, and tucks that thought somewhere away. There would be time enough for that.

“Oh, no, Emma,” William says, completely honestly. “No one could ever hate you.”

Emma smiles a little, and is about to say something before Alex interrupts her -- “Emma! Come over here and help Izzy with the kids!” and her smile widens. “Your advice is very Emma Approved, Mr. Darcy,” she says. “If you’ll excuse me, Mr. Knightley calls.” She stands in one practiced, fluid motion and jogs across the yard, gathering Isabella’s younger son in her arms. Alex leaves the barbeque for a moment to tell her something, and William can hear Emma’s laughter ring high above the yard.

“The two of them really are something,” says Gigi wistfully, watching the two of them. In the firelight she looks softer, younger.

“Yes. They are.”

**Author's Note:**

> Lydia/Gigi forever


End file.
